Villas-Boas slams referees after Chelsea are reduced to nine men at QPR

Andre Villas-Boas has claimed referees have cost Chelsea eight points this season after seeing Jose Bosingwa and Didier Drogba sent off in the defeat by QPR.

Bosingwa and Drogba were shown straight red cards by referee Chris Foy, who also cautioned seven other Chelsea players.

And, already unhappy with controversial decisions at Manchester United and Stoke this season, the Chelsea manager believes the officials have not been good enough, accusing Foy of being swayed by the QPR fans.

‘It’s the third time that a referee has
directly influenced the result for us and we’re not happy,’ said the
34-year-old, whose team will be fined £25,000 by the FA for amassing so
many cards.

‘In three games there have been blatant refereeing mistakes. I’m very disappointed with Chris’s performance. Chris and his team managed to play an emotional game and they conceded to the crowd and committed tremendous mistakes. It’s not fair.’

‘I spoke to the referee at the end and I was very aggressive to him. Everyone can have a bad day, but this was not a bad day for us. It was a good day for us and a bad day for the referee. Conspiracy theories can lead to bans and lead to you calling us cry-babies but we’re not.’

Villas-Boas’s comments will no doubt lead to a charge and heavy fine from the FA but he is convinced his side were hard done by at Loftus Road after David Luiz was penalised for fouling Heidar Helguson in the box, Bosingwa was dismissed for bringing down Shaun Wright-Phillips and Drogba was shown his fifth red card for Chelsea for a two-footed lunge on Adel Taarabt.

‘The penalty’s a penalty that could or could not be given,’ he added. ‘But if he gives a soft penalty like that, he has to give us a soft penalty, to consider a lot of shoves in the other box. The judgment was not the same.

No excuse: Dider Drogba was sent off for a wild lunge on Adel Taarabt

‘I have nothing to say about Didier’s sending-off because it seems fair to me. But with Bosingwa, I think JT was in a position of cover so a yellow card would do. It was not only the major decisions, but the fouls, the throw-ins. I think we were superior, even with nine men. I was very, very proud of the team today.’

However, QPR manager Neil Warnock hailed the ‘greatest’ day of his career and backed Foy’s performance. ‘I am so pleased that we had the referee because a lot would have been conned,’ said Warnock, who guided his team to their first win over Chelsea in 16 years.

‘When you are beat like that and have two men sent off, it’s easy to blame the referee. When you’re young, you do that.’